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John Force Racing's Brittany Force posted the team to beat in the Top Fuel class at Joliet on Friday night. Photo by Ron Lews Photography

John Force Racing's Brittany Force, Robert Hight lead NHRA qualifying at Joliet

June 27, 2014

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Brittany Force took the Top Fuel qualifying lead Friday in the Route 66 NHRA Nationals. Force had a 3.791-second pass at 324.51 mph.

“I was excited as it felt like a good run and I could also feel the car pull me to the centerline of the track," Brittany Force said. "I never thought we'd be No. 1, but we got the Castrol Edge dragster down there and I jumped out on the other end and they said it ran a 3.79 and we we're No. 1. I was so pumped and excited, but I was also keeping my fingers crossed that it would hold as there were some good teams that ran right after us that could have bumped us from the No. 1 spot."

John Force Racing's Robert Hight topped the Funny Car field, while Allen Johnson was the fastest in Pro Stock, and Eddie Krawiec led the Pro Stock Motorcycle lineup.

“The way my Auto Club Ford has been running, yeah I believed we could get back in the No. 1 spot," Hight said. "I believed everybody would run a little better. It is pretty humid out here and I think people are missing the tuneup a little bit. This race track is so great that whatever you are throwing at it, the racetrack is taking it away.

"[Crew chief] Mike Neff was very happy with that run. It puts us No. 1 after the first session and No. 1 tonight. That is six points today, and tomorrow we are going to get all over this thing. We are going to get after it. We are either going to run a three or we are going to smoke the tires trying.”

Hight had a 4.026 at 317.64 in a Ford Mustang, Johnson ran a 6.574 at 209.43 in a Dodge Dart, and Krawiec had a track-record 6.872 at 194.86 on a Harley-Davidson.

Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

NHRA qualifying

Friday's results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 17th annual O'Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Route 66 Raceway, 12th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.